The small island known as Iceland has been generous with sharing its musical gems for quite some time.  We have longsince dubbed Bjork our “Icelandic, fairy princess of whimsicle and experimental music”;  and we have bestowed upon Sigur Ros the title “Icelandic prince of post-rock, mingled with minimalist elements”.  Now the little country has birthed another precious trinket that calls itself Amiina.  Comprised of four lovely ladies, the group began as a string quartet, but soon branched out to include a vast number of insturments – synth, piano, electric and baroque guitar, celtic harp, harmonium, melodica, celesta, glockenspiel, gideon harp, call bells, glass harp, kalimba and the mandoli among others.  Interestingly enough, no one member of the quartet has a specific assignment to an insturment and they are known to move from one instrument to another mid-song whilst performing.  Thus their first album Kurr, released in 2007, produced beautiful contemporary-classical/ambient tracks backed by electronic loops.  I recommend the songs “Rugla”, “Glámur”, and “Sexfaldur“, but the entire album is brilliant so go get it!

Also check out Múm. Love live Iceland!

-Aurora Fisher